The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word PENNI
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
P
E
N
N
I
Buddy explains!
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does PENNI mean?
PENNI noun- A former Finnish currency unit, worth 1/100 of the markka.